Posted on 09/29/2010 12:51:00 PM PDT by ex-snook
Bill to tax companies exporting jobs fails
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday blocked tax legislation that would have punished U.S. firms that export jobs. But the political symbolism of trying to save American jobs, not passing a bill, was the Democrats’ closing argument on the economy in the waning weeks of the congressional elections.
Republicans complained that the vote used a serious subject — economic recovery — to score points with voters five weeks before the balloting in which all 435 House seats, 37 Senate seats and the Democratic majority are on the line. The bill in question, Republicans said, would make U.S. companies less competitive.
“The liberal Senate leadership has brought forward a politically motivated bill that will never become law,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
But majority Democrats, now without their original plan to close the campaign with a middle class tax cut, sought to convince voters that the bill showed off their commitment to supporting the nation’s economic recovery.
“This is part of the continuing focus on jobs,” Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., told reporters.
The bill failed, 53-45, to attract the 60 votes required to advance. Four Democrats and one Independent joined Republicans to block its progress.
But debating it and forcing senators on the record was the Democrats’ point.
“We’re just a few weeks away from an election,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. “I wish this election would be a simple referendum on the debate we’re having on the floor of the Senate right now.”
The bill at issue in the Senate would exempt companies that import jobs from paying the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax for new U.S. employees who replace overseas workers who had been doing similar work.
The two-year exemption would be available for workers hired over the next three years. The tax cut — estimated to cost about $1 billion — would be partially offset by tax increases on companies that move jobs overseas.
The bill would prohibit firms from taking deductions for business expenses associated with expanding operations in other countries. It would increase taxes on U.S. firms that close domestic operations and expand foreign ones to import products to the U.S.
Republicans argued the tax cuts would be difficult to administer and the tax increases would hurt international corporations that employ U.S. workers.
There will be no recovery until we make more of what we import
Check my post below. No sooner was the last vote cast than Obama’s diplomats in India were telling them not to worry, it’s only election rhetoric (like NAFTA in Ohio)
We can’t on one hand, complain about the burdens government puts on businesses such as high taxes and regulations, and on the other hand, complain when they react to those burdens and take their businesses elsewhere.
Exporting jobs overseas is a direct result of environments that aren’t friendly to businesses. IMHO, this is even more of a factor than consumers demanding lower costs.
If the dollar is no longer backed by gold... But by American productivity... And you ship American jobs offshore, reducing American productivity...
What do you think would happen to the value of the dollar?
No recovery until we produce more oil domestically than we import? This is going to be one long recession.
Dems are showboating, but they do have a point.
IMHO any corporation that exports an American job, must pay for the unemployment benefits of the fired American for as long as he is unemployed. Furthermore the corporation must pay for all the taxes to support the unemployed American for as long as he is unemployed. The same goes for any company caught hiring guest tech workers when Americans are available and hiring illegal immigrant workers. Same penalty for each year the worker is employed by the corporation in lieu of hiring American workers. Corporate CEO’s must learn that they are Americans first, second and third. That is how the Chinese businessmen is taught. Today China has all the cash and safeguarded their nation’s strategic interests. The US operated under Wall Street capitalism and we are broke, have unemployment and no strategic concepts of safeguarding vital resources needed by our country in a crisis or war. Maybe our government needs to look at the business models taught in colleges that receive federal funding and start mandating some changes for the funds.
Once again the RATs try to get our children and grandchildren to pay for their stunts.
It’s too bad no Republican tried to improve that bill by adding the GOVERNMENT to the list of parties to be punished.
(1) Some government agency or other is enforcing an illegal “Moratorium” on oil drilling in our Gulf.
(2) The EPA trying to stop the manufacture of cement in the US. Too much CO2 emited, donchano.
(3) The HSA is trying to keep the wages for jobs that illegals can do at 3rd world levels. Americans need not apply...
So which is worse...businesses that move jobs overseas in an effort to be competitive, or the politicians who pass bills that force businesses to move jobs overseas to remain competitive?
Our so called government taxes the living hell out of productive businesses, hamstrings them with over regulation, then tells them if they decide to leave they will get taxed even more?
Yep, makes sense to me. Why not just shut them down, or better yet tell them they have to hire union workers only.
What a bunch of looney tunes we have RUINING our country.
So then we have these businesses simply relocating their headquarters and registration overseas as well, moving more jobs with it.
We can't keep regulating and mistreating the hell out of businesses and expecting them to just roll over. A business has to survive, period.
The question is, do we make the environment here conducive to their survival and success or do we make the environment here a roadblock to such.
+1
“There will be no recovery until we make more of what we import “
Ah, but that result is at the end of a long chain of events.
What Congress would like is for us to be captive sheep to be fleeced at will to support an increasingly overbearing bureaucracy.
In order for us to make more of the stuff we want to buy, we have to do a lot of things to get there - from workplace regulation removal to environmental regulation removal to lower taxes, to smaller government.
Congress COULD be working on that, but they really don’t care.
The fallacy is that no jobs are exported.
To reiterate stronger......NO JOBS ARE EXPORTED
The American workers are not competative and the cost of products they make at the labor cost prevailing will mean product sales will or already have diminished below profitability.
The jobs of the Americans lost regardless of what the company does.
Those burden were put on by both parties but they really haven't changed in a dozen or so years and tax rates have been every higher. The major cause is limboing for the lowest labor cost. What is saved by the companies is shifted to the taxpayer [or future generations] through government unemployment and stimulus payments. The aggregate is lose-lose for America.
“Our so called government taxes the living hell out of productive businesses, hamstrings them with over regulation, then tells them if they decide to leave they will get taxed even more?”
Nope. Wrong. Takes away a deduction. You can bet the house India and China don’t allow that.
It was started with Clinton and the liberals. Remember “globalization” will make us “inter-connected?”
Republican Senators just repeating the cartoon of themselves. They are not patriots.
We could very well prohibit the importation of any products and require that everything be made in America. The consequences would be the same. We'd make more and more at lower and lower prices with fewer and fewer people.
China, which is late to this game, is already face the same problem in many industries.
If you would like to fight back against this insidious process demand the removal of computers from schools, workplaces and homes.
“The liberal Senate leadership has brought forward a politically motivated bill that will never become law,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.”
Orrin Hatch, drooling, as if he himself is not politically motivated.
Unfortunately this kind of argument makes sense to the Rush Limbaugh, Libertarian Useful Idiot crowd.
“To reiterate stronger......NO JOBS ARE EXPORTED”
Still, you are wrong.
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